Doughnut making apparatus



Feb. 6, 1940. t I. F. MCDONALD 2,189,217

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DOUGHNUT MAKING APPARATUS Filed April 23, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2fws/v'rae 5y few/v FM'a paw/.0

Feb. 6, 1940. F. MCDONALD 2,189,217

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5 '57 1 5.2 1 52a 5z\: 72 I2 5 F16. .9. 6 73 12 F161 I INVENTOE Bf/V/NFMODONALD ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,189,211 DDUGHNU MAKINGAPPARATUS Irvin F. McDonald, Lou Angelcs, Calif. Application April 28,1934, Serial No. 121,955 '1 claims. (01. 107-14) My present inventionrelates to an apparatus or machine for making doughnuts, or the like.

The objects of my invention are:

First, to provide an apparatus of this class whereby the freshly formeddough of doughnuts, or other product, is cut, clipped, or formed, andlaid gently upon a conveyor, or upon hot grease, or other liquid, by theengagement of the cutter of the apparatus with suitable means inconnection with the conveyor or near or immediately below the surface ofthe grease, or other liquid;

Second, to provide such an apparatus whereby the cutter may be easilyadjusted so that the cutting or similar operation may always be efiectedadjacent the top of the conveyor or the surface of the grease, or otherliquid, even though the level of the latter varies considerably; thatis, such an apparatus which is readily accommodated to varying heightsof grease, or other liquid, or other surface upon which the doughnuts,or other products, are laid;

Third, to provide an apparatus of this class in which the doughnut, orthe like, is formed and cut by raising and lowering the whole container,containing the product from which it is made, against a suitableobstruction;

Fourth, to provide an apparatus of this class in which dough, or thelike, is forced from the container without agitating the contents in anyway, and thus preserving the texture thereof;

Fifth, to provide novel means for producing such pressure container, sothat varying and desired quantities of dough, or the like, may be forcedfrom the container;

Sixth, to provide an apparatus of this class in which the foregoingfeatures may be embodied in a manually operated or automatic machine;

Seventh, to provide an apparatus embodying the foregoing features and somade that doughnuts, or the like, may be formed or cut with one hand;

Eighth, to provide an apparatus of this class whereby the dischargemeans may be readily replaced so that either ordinary doughnuts orFrench doughnuts may be made;

Ninth, to provide a novel doughnut machine whereby the doughnuts arefried on both sides without turning them over in the grease;

And tenth, to provide as a whole a novelly constructed apparatus of thisclass, one' which is simple and economical of construction and ofoperation, and which will not readily or der. With these and otherobjects in view, I have in the dough container, or other get out ofdevised a doughnut making apparatus as will be hereinafter described indetail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings and to the characters ofreference thereon, which form a 5 part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of my apparatus in one form for makingdoughnuts, the feed means being shown in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side viewof a detail of 10 thedough cutter;

Fig. 3 is a transversesectional view taken at 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the pressure producingmeans, taken substantially at N 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of niaapparatus in a slightly modifiedform, in hi the feed mechanism is omitted;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation thereof in at which a spout or nozzleis attached for making French doughnuts, or the like,

Fig. '7 is an elevational view, partly in section, of an automaticmachine embodying my invention, and showing means for frying both sidesof an the doughnuts; and,

Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views, taken respectively through 8-8 and9-9 of Fig. 7.

shown in Fig. 1, the container I, for holding the dough or otherproduct, 0 is a cylinder, the lower end of which is provided with alarge, downwardly extending spout 2. In the cylinder is reciprocallymounted a plunger 3 for forcing the product through the spout. Rigidlymounted at the axial portion of the spout 35 is a tube 4, closed at theinner end, on which is reciprocally mounted the cutter 5 which is in theform of a disc having a downwardly depending shank 5a. with longitudinalslots 5b at the opposite sides.- Through these slots project laterally 0extending lugs position of the cutter. In the lower end of the shank andcoaxial therewith is a long finger in the form of an adjusting screw 6,which extends freely into the tube 4. This screw is adjusted in 5 or outdepending upon the height of the liquid I I in the receptacle I2, sothat the formed doughnut l3 will be cut from the body within thecontainer only a slight distance above the surface of the grease orother liquid.

The plunger 3 has a stem 2| in the form of a gear rack which extendsoutwardly through a frame 22 which is readily attached to the end of thecylinder by placing its diametrically opposite ends behind retainingears In. On the frame is mounted a pinion 23 which meshes with the rack.Coaxial with the pinion, and secured to the same shaft 24, is a ratchet25. The shaft is prevented from free rotation by a spring 26. Freelyrotat- I able on the shaft is a handle 21 which has a laterally extendedportion 28 on which is mounted a pawl 28 which is adapted to engage theratchet and rotate the shaft in one direction only. At the outer end ofthe portion 28 is a stop which may be in the form of a screw 30. Thehandle portion 28 is adapted to oscillate through an arc, limited by theengagement of the inner end of the screw 30 with the frame 22, at oneend, and by the stop collar 3|, at the other end of the arc.

This collar is adiustably mounted on an arcuate support 32 carried bythe frame.

The container is supported by the handle 21 which is rotated clockwiseas the container is lowered, until the screw 30 engages the frame.

This forces a portion of the product from the spout until it assumes ashape shown by dotted lines designated l3, in Fig. 1. As the device islowered into the grease and the lower end of the screw 6 strikes thebottom of, or a platform in,

the receptacle l2, the doughnut is cut oil and dropped into the grease.This arrangement permits doughnuts to be made with one hand.

Coaxial with the ratchet, and preferably secured thereto, is a clutch orserrated disc 33 into the notches of which is adapted to extend a pawl34 for locking the handle to the shaft and permit the handle to berotated counter-clockwise, thereby raising the plunger when the stopscrew 30 is withdrawn.

In the structure shown in Fig. 5, an ordinary cylinder and plunger isemployed. The plunger, designated 3, is reciprocated by a stem ll and ahandle 42 at the outer end of the stem.

, In this instance the spout and cutting means are mounted on a headwhich is screwed on one end of the cylinder I. This permits the spout tobe readily removed and another spout or nozzle screwed in its place, asshown in Fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows a head member 46 which is screwed on oneend of the cylinder. This head is provided with a nozzle 41 terminatingin a relatively small opening. This opening is formed with convergingprongs "a such as are used in making French doughnuts. This form ofnozzle may also .be used 50 for making cookies, decorations, and thelike.

In Fig. 7, I have shown my apparatus embodied in an automatic machine.In this machine, the receptacle I2 is preferably a long narrow onehaving an electric heating unit 5| for heating the grease. Above thereceptacle is mounted a shallow tray 52 having many perforations 52a inits bottom, which is positioned near the top of the receptacle I 2 andthe surface of the grease therein. In the tray is also provided anelectric heating unit 53. A pump 54, positioned above the receptacle,has its suction 55 at one end and near the bottom of the receptacle, andits discharge 58 connected with a long distributing head 51 at the topof the tray 52. This pump takes the grease from one end of thereceptacle, setting up a flow toward said end. and delivers it to thetray, which in turn discharges it in the form of a relatively fine sprayover the surface of the grease in the receptacle. Thus the doughnuts arefried on both sides without being turned over.

The pump is driven by a motor 58, which also operates the doughnutforming mechanism, as will be described hereafter.

The container I is vertically reciprocated, being suspended from andconnected to eccentrics 6| by connecting rods 82, the eccentrics beingmounted on a shaft 83 rotated by the motor. The container is guided by aguide 84 which is provided at one side with an upwardly extendingsupport 5 35. On this support is vertically adiustably mounted a cam 86which is adapted to be engaged by and to control the movement of theratchet. 15 The finger or screw 6 is adapted preferably to engage aplatform II when the container is lowered to cut 01! a formed doughnut.The platform is positioned below the surface of the grease in thereceptacle. 20 In the receptacle is also mounted a conveyor which, inthis instance, consists of slightly spaced apart conveyor belts 12 and13, the belts being separated to permit the finger or screw 6 to extendtherebetween and engage the platform. 25 This conveyor extends aroundfour sprockets H and under idlers 15, which idlers direct the conveyorto pass below the surface of the grease from 14 may be mounted in asecond receptacle 16 so 30 that only the portion of the conveyor,between the idlers, passes through the grease. This conveyor tends morepositively to feed the doughnuts toward the discharge end of thereceptacle.

Though I have shown and described a partic- 35 ular construction andcertain applications and modifications thereof, I do not wish to belimited to these, but desire to include in the scope of my invention theconstruction, combination, and ar rangement, substantially as set forthin the ap- 40 pended claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a container having adischarge spout at its lower end, a cutter mounted at the lower end ofsaid 5 spout, means engageable with a foreign object for moving thecutter with respect to the spout, means for suspending the container andraising and lowering the same, a plunger reciprocally mounted in saidcontainer and having a'gear rack 50 extending upwardly and from thecontainer, a pinion engaging the rack, a ratchet for rotating thepinion, a pawl for rotating the ratchet and operatively connected withthe suspending means for moving the pawl by manipulation of the sus- 55pending means, and adjustable stop means for controlling the rotation ofthe ratchet and thereby limiting the movement of the plunger.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a container having adischarge spout at its lower end, 30 a cutter mounted at the lower endof said spout and movable with respect thereto when lowered against aforeign object, a handle at the upper portion of the container andmounted to rotate about its longitudinal axis and transverse to 65 theaxis of the container for raising and lowering the container, a plungerreciprocally mounted in said container and having a gear rack extendingupwardly and from the container, a pinion engaging the rack, a ratchetfor rotating the pinion, 70 a pawl for rotating the ratchet andoperatively connected and rotatable with the handle.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a container having adischarge, a rotatable handle for supporting and raising and loweringsaid con- 7 tainer, said handle being mounted to rotate about itslongitudinal axis, and a means for creating periodic pressure within thecontainer, compris-i ing a plunger reciprocally mounted within thecontainer and having a gearrack extending therefrom, a pinion engagingthe rack, a ratchet for, rotating the pinion, and a pawl for rotatingthe ratchet and operatively connected to and rotatable with the handleabout said longitudinal axis.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a container having adischarge, a rotatable handle for supporting and raising and loweringsaid container, said handle being mounted to rotate about itslongitudinal axis, and a means for creating periodic pressure within thecontainer and having a stem extending therefrom, a ratchet forintermittently advancing said stem, and a pawl for rotating the ratchetand operatively connected to and rotatable with the handle about saidlongitudinal axis.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a container having adischarge spout at its lower end and a tubular fixed guide positionedcentrally oi the spout and extending downwardly with respect to thecontainer, and a cutter reciprocally mounted to slide exteriorly of andon the lower end of the guide and adapted to be raised contiguous to thespout and cut oil the portion or the product discharge from the spout.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a container having adischarge spout at its lower end and a guide positioned centrally of thespout and extending downwardly and below the spout, and a cutter mountedon and adapted to reciprocate longitudinally on the outside of the guideand adapted to be raised contiguous to the spout and cut off the portionof the product discharge from the spout. V

'7. In an apparatus of the class described, a container having adischarge spout at its lower end, a tubular guide positioned centrallyof the spout and extending downwardly beyond the spout, the inner end ofthe tubular guide being closed, a disc shaped cutter mounted on andadapted to reciprocate longitudinally on the tubular guide, said cutterhaving a central depending yoke, and an actuating member adjustablymounted on and depending from the lower end of the yoke, and coaxialwith and adapted to enter the tubular guide, said cutter being adaptedto .be raised contiguous to the spout and cut oil the portion of theproduct discharged from the spout. 26

mvm F.- MCDONALD.

